Anglo Supports Carbon Capture And Storage
November 26th, 2008Carbon Capture and Storage received support from Australia in September 2008 when Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister, announced a new Global CCS Initiative to speed up the development of CCS technology.
“We believe the level of concerted international action required to achieve these targets needs a new approach and a new mechanism – but one which complements and leverage the work in existing international forums (IEA/CSLF) and international partnerships” said Rudd.
Australia was established as one of the leaders with regards to Carbon Capture and Storage when it announced the $100 million funding of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Institute.
The CCSI will be launched in January 2009 and both Shell and Anglo American has thrown their weight behind the initiative. The Boston Consulting Group, an independent management consulting firm has been engaged to develop a business model for the institute in collaboration with potential members.
Anglo American said the institute would enable a far greater level of knowledge-sharing and communication, thereby building public awareness and acceptance of carbon capture and storage as a contributor to the range of solutions needed to address climate change.
“Anglo American believes carbon capture and storage is a vital technology for mitigating emissions from the use of all fossil fuels – coal, gas and oil,” said Anglo American head of energy Roger Wicks.
Carbon Capture and Storage
Capturing the Carbon from the air is the only way to collect gases generated by diffuse sources like motor vehicles and airplanes. Emissions from automobiles represent approximately half of the greenhouse gases on the planet and this new technique could significantly reduce the level of these gases.
The ambient air scrubbers are based on technology first developed in the 1950s.
The proposed scrubbers, consist of capture towers containing sodium hydroxide (also called caustic soda) that interacts with air blown into the tower. The sodium hydroxide bonds with the carbon dioxide, separating it from the air which harmlessly passes through the tower. The carbon dioxide is then pushed into storage facilities.
The details of the storage facilities are still undetermined, but one possibility is piping the gas to the bottom of the ocean or into deep underground caverns.
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